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I think I'm ready for my first Pokémon game now. I couldn't find a single thread covering most of what I'm looking to know about, so here are the questions keeping me from just jumping into the Pokécraze. Any help is appreciated!

1. Are the games related to the anime series? / Is it beneficial to watch the Pokémon anime if I'm playing the games?

2. Do I need to understand the Pokémon trading card game and how it works before trying the 3DS games?

3. Can I just pick any game I like, e.g. X/Y or OR/AS? Should I start with one of the older games and work my way up?

4. Because there are usually two Pokémon games released at the same time, how should I choose which one to play if I'm only playing solo (i.e. not going to trade Pokémon with a friend)?

5. Should I, only starting out with Pokémon games, be aware of Pokémon Bank and learn how to use it? / Does use of Pokémon Bank bring additional value to the games to a newbie?

6. Can Pokémon games be played online or are they mostly offline/local games? Is there a good online community for discussing Pokémon games, however without discussion of Pokémon data editing / hacks?

7. Finally, why exactly are Pokémon games so popular? / Why are you hooked to playing Pokémon games?

1. No, at least very little so.
2. Absolutely not.
3. Doesn't matter too much, there's no continuous story, just personal preference. I would recommend starting at Diamond/Pearl.
4. It won't matter too much, the versions aren't very different, except for having slightly different stories and a different Legendary pokemon, along with some other pokemon exclusive to versions.
5. As a newbie, no, unless you are intent on restarting your game and saving your pokemon team after the data wipe.
6. They can be played online, however the online experience is merely a complement to the rich singleplayer experience. Serebii.net and bulbagarden.net both have good forums.
7. You'll figure it out as soon as you start playing one. It was a huge part of everyone's childhood, and Nintendo continues to make games as outstanding as the last (with some exceptions). I play for the experience, and frankly as a way to pass time on a handheld that actually has depth to it, unlike most mobile games.

1. The anime is completely unrelated to the games, except for maybe some spinoffs.
2. Nope.
3. You can start anywhere, but you might want to start off with GBA games and work your ways up, so that you gradually adapt to all the changes in the series.
4. By version exclusive pokemon. aka, which ones do you like better?
5. Bank is mostly for people who have an obscene amount of pokemon that the games alone can't store. You probably won't need it.
6. ORAS and X/Y can be played online, and there are plenty of places, such as Pokecommunity/Serebii/bulbapedia
7. It's an easy series to get into for all ages, and the game is fun for just raising the pokemon to level 100, or for competitive online matches.

There are a LOT of Pokemon series and movies. A LOT. You may want to refer to this to help you out with it. It's a LOT of information. However, there's actually no benefit toward the games for watching the anime, as most of the series have only a vague relation to the games. Most of them are inspired by the games, not adaptations of them. The ones that ARE direct adaptations of the games only last a few episodes and seem to be mostly fanservice.

You do not need to understand that to play X/Y or OR/AS. In fact, it's the other way around. You need to understand Pokemon before you play the Trading Card Game!

You can pick any game you want, but starting with a newer game will make it harder to move backwards.

Choosing which version to play is easy! Each version in a single generation has a handful of Pokemon that are exclusive to that version of the game. Simply pick which version has the Pokemon you want to catch, or you'll be stuck trying to find someone to trade with. For example, here is Gold/Silver's exclusive Pokemon list.

You will have no use for Pokemon Bank if you're not trying to move your Pokemon to a newer game or are going to catch hundreds and hundreds of Pokemon. I mean, it's an option, but games released prior to X/Y can't use it...I think. I may be understanding it wrong.

They can be played online, but only for battling. You can't go into someone else's game and run around with them. I don't know of any good Pokemon community...sorry!

The pokemon x/y series is prety close to events in the game. In fact, the episode about vivillon being poached and sold over the internet came out right after datel released the powersaves codes for the rare forms of vivillon. I'm sure it was only coincidence but even my 8 year old daughter said that I was a vivillon poacher because I was using the codes to get all of the vivillon patterns, heh.